my name is Lisa I am a 44 yo woman. For the past 3-4 years I have been in and out of Drs offices being told its in your head, there’s nothing wrong with you, it’s just a bad case of the flu, your getting older this happens… it has been a very crazy ride to a diagnosis for sure. January 1,2014 finally found a Dr who would listen, she referred me to two specialist a gastroenterologist and a rheumatologist…
The gastroenterologist was not very nice… Her bed side manners sucked, the first Rheumy acted as though I was a waste of time no tests nothing sent home saying it was bursitis
I went back to my Dr she had gotten the report and then a referral to a second Rheumy for a second opinion for insurance sake… This Dr ordered Tons of blood work, X-rays and said come back in a week… Finally did someone else believe me? After a week I went in again… The blood work all normal again! She didn’t stop there though she put me in excruciating pain by squeezing all my joints and moving them around, then said most of the joints in your body are swollen, and gave me diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis then told me that because it appears to be symmetrical that it was probably RA and sometimes it can take years for an RA factor to become raised mine was borderline sitting right at 10
Because of my stomach issues from to many years of Tylenol mixed with NSAIDS I could not take NSAIDS any longer she put me on Celebrex… It worked great…, but my insurance denied coverage for it, she then moved strait to Humira and gave me 3 mos of samples of the Celebrex and continued the steroids surprisingly enough my insurance approved the Humira right away… After 2 mos I was off the steroids after 3 mos I could climb stairs without pain… It was a miracle drug for me…
January 1, 2015 my insurance changed again I can’t see any of my Drs… I get a new Dr go in right away get a referral to a new Rheumy the new dr office loses the referral it took 2.5 mos to get the referral done the new Rheumy calls to schedule an appointment because of my past diagnosis and not being on the Humira any longer they squeezed me in a week later! (Thank god for a quick appointment) again I’m poked prodded and squeezed after he was done he looked at me and asked if I had ever had a red rash or Scaley skin… I have not I know what psoriasis is I have a good friend who has the plaque kind… He then told me it could take up to 10 years for skin symptoms to show up… He gave me a diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis. And is working on getting the Humira approved again…
I didn’t know you could have PsA without the skin condition too…
I was in search of answers online and found this site it has been a great wealth of information for me
Welcome to the group! I was really lucky that I was diagnosed quickly with completely normal blood work. It means that I have had access to treatment that I might not have otherwise had. I have extremely minimal psoriasis, just on my knee, on rare occasions both knees and elbows, small spots.
That's great that your doctor is trying to get you on a biologic right away.
I feel lucky I was diagnosed with normal blood work, except for an elevated cpk for muscle inflammation (and moderate psoriasis for 35 years leading up to it) . Wow, you've been through a lot! I'm glad somebody finally thought out of the box and figured it all out for you! This group has been a godsend to me, also--I stumbled upon it last spring while desperately searching online for answers. :-)
Welcome! Yes - you are very lucky to be prescribed biologics on your history! I had to just through hoops. (You don't want to know) Your story of 3-4 years of feeling frustrated because you know there is something wrong, but doctors can't put the pieces together is so familiar to all of us. I have only minimal plaque (hairline mostly) but I developed it in my nails and was being treated for a fungal infection., It took a visit to a different GP one day to put all the clues together and ship me off to a Rheumy that got me on the path to normality. I have found the members on this site just so helpful and a wealth of information. Good luck :)
Welcome, Moondancer. Your story is so interesting: thanks for taking the time to write it. I’m guessing that it did you good to write it all down, and I know for sure that it did a lot of people here good to hear that they aren’t the only ones to have been blown off and misdiagnosed and made to feel that it was all in their head. Count me as one of those! And count me as one of the ones who got the psoriasis diagnosis after the arthritis diagnosis. Yes, that scaly dry skin was psoriasis (and not bad grooming) and the nail “stuff” I was treated for wasn’t fungus at all. Yup, just like my friend Becstar, who lives on the other side of the planet. When people share as generously as you have, it really does help all of us to cope with this “strange bird” of a disease. I hope that you find this a really good place for support and information.
Creative Fluff, I don’t know yet what they are now however a year ago my CRP was 0.6 & 1.1 and my sed rate was 9 & 15.
What I didn’t mention was the findings of a better gastroenterologist, through the process of all the blood work my liver enzymes are elevated and I have isues with my stomach due to this Metholtroxate was never an option for me so my Dr was able to get me strait in to Humira.
Thank you all for your kind responses, it was definitely nice to see my story is not unique!
Hi Lisa! Oh yes your story is vary similar! I only have one patch on my elbow that hardly bothers me much never went in for it. That small patch was noticed by GP after I cried my eyes out after all my tests and MRIs came back normal (except high inflammation levels and bulging disk in neck but not related to my pain points). I thought I was crazy but swore I wasn’t making it up. That beautiful woman put her hand on my shoulder and said “I know your not we will figure it out.” She noticed that patch as I walked out the door and stopped me…the rest led to diagnosis. We have all felt “crazy” or “old” or whatever but here you are and belong. Good luck hope Humira is the blessing you need!
On a personal note, welcome fellow northeasterner!